The Art of War
by MiHnn
Summary: Justin was acting weird. And....um... maybe so was she. - Justin/Alex
1. Prologue

**_Disclaimer - I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place._**

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**A/N - My first WOWP chapter story. No idea where this is going, but please R&R since reviews generally give me ideas. Thanks for reading and giving this a chance, and..**

**Enjoy!**

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**Prologue-------  
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She was angry.

No. Scratch that. She was _beyond _angry. She was so past angry that she was simply _pissed off._ At Stacy. At Dean. And at the good for nothing _someone_ who's name she was not going to think about right now.

She was _so_ mad, she could scream. And that's what she did.

Lifting one of her text books, she threw it at her bedroom wall, feeling a sense of satisfaction wash over her the instant her fingers let go and it flew, hitting the wall with a dull thud. A second later, the anger was back. She needed something bigger. Something heavier. Looking around, she saw her jewellery box. If she wasn't a wizard and able to fix broken trinkets, this would be a bad idea. But _because _she was a wizard... she gritted her teeth and heaved, dashing it against the floor. The satisfaction was back when it burst open, her bracelets, chains and earrings flying everywhere.

She stared at the box, her breathing far from calm. It was a birthday present from that same un-nameable person. That stupid, _stupid_ person. How _dare_ he?

Turning swiftly, she marched out of her bedroom and into his. Slamming the door shut behind her. That whole breaking her things to resolve her anger? It wasn't working for her. She looked around. There had to be _something_ that she could use to reduce this restless feeling inside her. Something so valuable that he would cry tears at its' loss. Something to show that you don't mess with Alex Russo. Then, her eyes landed on it. A signed baseball from some baseball player or other. Justin practically stalked the guy before he managed to get that stupid autograph. It held a place of honour in his bookcase. Right next to the grade seven scientist of the year award and a certificate of authenticity (how does she even know the meaning of that word?) of some fossil. _This_ was his Achilles' heel.

She took slow, deliberate steps towards it. She wouldn't put it past him to protect one of his prized possessions with a barricade or something.

"What are you doing?"

She froze, and at the sound of his voice, her anger seemed to just increase tenfold. Turning around, she glared at him. "What do you think?"

He moved towards her, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally settled on a sentence. "I don't know what to say."

Her eyes narrowed further. "There's nothing for you to say. Your opinion was made pretty clear."

He scoffed. "Like yours did?"

She stood straighter. "Don't try turning this around on me. You started it."

"By _warning_ you?" He snapped sarcastically. "Gee Alex. I'm _so _sorry for playing the role of your big brother. Next time, I'll be sure to let you do whatever you want to do."

"Are you sure it's physically possible for you to _let go_?"

He looked taken aback for a bit before his eyes clouded over. "You know what? What you do with your life is none of my business."

"Took you long enough." She mumbled darkly, loud enough for him to hear.

He glared at her. "If I stay away from you, then I expect you to stay away from me."

Somehow, she didn't like that wording. "Fine." But she wasn't going to show him that.

He looked at her as if he was confused or something. "Fine." And somehow, the way he said it sounded more final.

She shrugged. "Fine." Moving forward, she bumped against his shoulder (hard) before leaving his bedroom, slamming the door close again. She considered doing a spell to melt the door or something, but her annoying conscience convinced her not to (yeah, she's paying attention these days, so sue her). She didn't want to get grounded anyway.

She didn't remember the last time they fought like this. Considering how the last yelling match went, this was pretty mild. But it did have a certain... finality to it that no other fight had. And that...kind of scared her.

And to think, it all started with Harper.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N - Sorry for the delay. For the benefit of this fic, Alex and Dean never had the dream break up. He simply moved away, and moved back. **

**Disclaimer - I do not own WOWP.**

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**Chapter 1  
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_All warfare is based on deception...._

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_

"So..."

Alex looked up. Generally when her best friend says 'so', it doesn't mean 'what's up'.

"You and Dean have been going out for some time now, huh?"

Alex shrugged. "Yeah. So?"

"So... have you two..." She gestured widely, and Alex could only guess she meant either cartwheeling or maybe bird watching.

"_What_?" She snapped confused.

Harper sighed. "Have you two, you know.." She leaned forward as if secretly to whisper. "Have you two had... sex?"

The thought of sex with Dean didn't make her face scrunch up in disgust, it was the fact that her best friend thought it appropriate to bring up this topic while they were four feet away from the rest of her family who were busy doing work at the substation. She was slacking as usual. "Harper!" She hissed. "This is not the place to discuss this."

"To discuss what?" Justin questioned distractedly surprising the two of them, as he pulled off his apron. She knew what this meant. It was her shift time.

"Nothing." "Not Alex's sex life." They looked at each other. Seriously? She chose Harper to be her friend, _why?_

Justin froze as Alex hid her face in her hands, and Harper laughed nervously. Then, he let out his own nervous laughter causing her to peep through her fingers curiously. "Alex? And Dean? Nah! They wouldn't. I mean, she's too young. And they've been going out only for about.. what? A month since they got back together?" He looked at her, and she hid her face again. "Alex? You're not...right?" He asked seriously.

"What's that, Dad?" She stood up quickly, grabbing the apron from her brother's slackened grip. "Yeah, sure. I'm coming." She started putting on the apron as she faced the other two. "My turn to, you know, to work.. or something or other. You two okay?" She grinned not giving them enough time to respond. "Great. See you around." Ducking her head, she retreated into the kitchen.

Somehow the thought of discussing sex with her brother was not how she planned to spend her afternoon.

* * *

"Anything good on tv?" Justin asked curiously as he joined her on the couch.

"By _my_ standards? No. By _your _standards, I'm sure there's a boring re-telling of how useless science is." She smirked as her brother's eyes narrowed.

"Haha. Funny." He deadpanned. "Remote please."

She scoffed. "Get it yourself."

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the instrument from her hand, and ignored her 'hey' of protest. "There is always something to watch, Alex. You just need to know where to look." Ignoring her own eye roll, he started surfing the channels.

"Saw this." She breathed out, bored. He clicked the remote. "Saw this." He clicked it again. "Saw this." And again. "Saw this." And again. She yawned. "Saw this."

Justin let out an impatient breath. "Do you mind?"

"Why yes, I _do _mind." She held out her hand expectantly. "Remote."

_"No_." He turned back to the tv, finally finding a channel he loves. "See? I told you there's always something to watch." He smiled smugly as he made himself comfortable against the couch cushions.

Alex scoffed. "The Discovery Channel? Could you _be_ anymore of a nerd?"

His eyebrows rose, impressed. "Nice Chandler reference."

She grinned. "I know, right? Now back to you letting me watch something with a bit more entertainment."

"This _is _entertainment." He gestured towards the show.

"Yeah. You're right. I never knew that lions were yellow. And here I thought they were purple." She glared at him. He should get the hint now.

"Actually they're of a golden colour. A combination of yellow and gold." He looked way too smug for his own good. Nope. Didn't get the hint.

She had two options. Either she could wrestle the remote from her brother and watch.. nothing. Because lets face it, Sunday evening tv was just so lame. Or, she could leave. She chose option number three, to cross her arms and huff. She was way too lazy to do so much work anyway. Justin continued to ignore her as the commentator described the lion. Sure. As if they didn't learn what that huge mammal like creature was in kinder garden just between a Kite and a Mango. Just when they came to the lioness, Justin looked at her hesitantly.

"You know, the lioness is said to be a free creature."

"Oh?" She should really repaint her nails.

"Yeah. They um.. they are strong, powerful, and no one messes with them."

Alex continued to concentrate on her nails as she nodded along. Okay, so they sounded pretty cool.

She heard her brother take a deep breath. "Now the lion on the other hand, always wants to be in control." Her glance froze. Something... didn't seem right. "So generally after the lion and lioness... do it.." Wait a second. ".. the lion just leaves the lioness and goes to another lioness who's not... you know..." He faltered, her glare speaking volumes.

"Who's not what, Justin?" She snapped.

He looked around as if looking for inspiration. "You know.. not.. too young and...inexperienced." He looked down. And the things is, he _should _be ashamed.

Alex felt her jaw drop. Seriously? Her brother was giving her sex advice by substituting her and Dean for gross four legged, hairy animals? "And how do you know the lion wants more 'experienced'?" She snapped.

"Well.." He continued thoughtfully. And to her merit, he did look like he was scared of how her eyes narrowed at him. "It's in the lion's DNA. They are known for getting what they want...and getting out."

Oh for the love of all things Holy! "Justin! Dean's not like that."

"How do you know? He's had other girls before you, Alex. And you and I have both heard his reputation."

"Psh! Please. People will make anything up. It's just jealousy."

He looked at her seriously. "Jealousy didn't make Dean dump Clara, or Sarah, or Natalie, or Siera, or-"

"Look. Stay out of it, okay?" She knew the list. While she dated a total of two guys since their break-up, he hadn't really slowed down. And it hurt.

"Alex-"

"Justin." She interrupted getting off the couch. "I'm serious."

He stood up, his look earnest. "I'm just looking out for you."

"Yeah, well. I don't really need advice from the last eighteen year old virgin in New York." Ignoring his hurt expression she turned quickly, and ran out heading towards her bedroom, tears threatening to spill through.

She hadn't meant it. She hoped he knew that.

* * *

He hadn't spoken to her in two days. _Two_ days. The record is three. But that was when she 'mistakenly' burned his apparently valuable Spiderman action figure while trying to well.. burn his doll. He eventually forgave her. It's the same thing, right? He _had_ to forgive her. He would be McCaptain McLame-o if he didn't.

* * *

"What's that? Another nerd robot?" She scoffed as she collapsed onto the couch right next to him. She tried to ignore it when he shifted slightly away from her, his eyes glued to the tiny contraption he was working on. She sighed as she moved a bit closer, and got mad when he moved a lot more farther.

"You know. I'm trying here." He stopped his actions, but his eyes still stayed on the object in front of him. Sighing, she decided to change the subject. She was producing an olive branch here, it's up to him to accept it. "Did you see Max's new 'invention'? I think he might finally be able to join the Merpeople." She saw it. A slight twitch of his lips before he shook it off. At least she can still make him smile. "And Uncle Kelbo actually thought he could market the thing. I mean, it's a fire hazard, right?" She grinned. And so did he. Finally, he turned towards her.

"Alex-"

The door bell rang, and for some reason, his eyes clouded over. "What is it?" She asked concerned. Justin looked like he was choking. Standing up slowly, he headed towards the front door. After a quick breath, he opened it only to be tackled by a girl who hugged him so tight she was sure he was going to pass out.

"Stacy." He pulled her off him. "You're early."

"Classes finished early." She said flippantly. "You missed me?"

She was blonde and tall and pretty, and Alex didn't like her. "Justin, who's your friend?"

As her brother looked on speechless, Stacy spoke. "I'm Stacy. Justin's..." She looked at him expectantly.

"My tutor!" He interrupted pulling away from her. "She's my... tutor."

Alex crossed her arms to stare him down. "Your tutor?" Somehow the thought of Justin bringing a date home where there's no parental supervision didn't sound right. On the other hand, Justin having a tutor didn't sound right either. But then again, Justin and this girl just didn't click. She was way too hot for the nerd.

Stacy looked at him quizzically before shrugging. "I guess I am."

Turning her attention back to the Blonde, Alex stared her down. "Tell me Stacy, what do you teach him?"

"You know what?" Justin suddenly piped in as he grabbed her shoulders. "Alex was just leaving for her date with Dean, weren't you?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

Message received loud and clear. But that doesn't mean she has to follow it. "Actually, Dean and I decided to re-schedule."

"Funny. That's the first time I'm hearing about that." He pushed her towards the door. "Why don't you go and hang out with him anyway?"

She jumped swiftly away from his grasp. "Nope. I'd rather stay here."

He glared at her. "_No_. You can't."

She smirked. "_Yes_. I can."

Laughing nervously he grabbed her roughly by her elbows. "Don't worry, Stacy. She's leaving. Now."

"But-"

"Bye Alex." He said cheerily as he managed to push her successfully out of the apartment, and shut the door in her face.

She huffed. No one kicked her out. No one. Reaching for her wand, she wracked her brain for the right spell. Grinning, she flicked the wooden instrument towards the door. "_Even though many spells I don't know, let me see what's happening through this door_." A spark of light ignited from the wand and coated the door. Slowly it gave way to a semi-see through Plexiglas allowing her to see the apartment. She watched Justin and his.. ahem... tutor, as they continued talking. "Damn! Forgot about the sound." Reaching for her wand again, she was about to recite another spell when she froze. She couldn't be seeing right. Stacy _kissed_ Justin. We're talking lip on lip hands were everywhere for God's sake. What did her brother look like? Meat? She cocked her head to the side and noticed his hands travelling to her top, and seconds later, they disappeared under the material. She couldn't watch this anymore. She felt a slight pull within her chest, and she didn't like it. Turning her back on the disturbing scene, she pulled out her cellphone and dialled her boyfriend's number.

"Dean? Yeah. I'll be waiting downstairs. See you in five." She hung up and turned back to see if maybe they decided to play a card game or something. She hoped. Instead, she found an empty apartment. Which meant that they were currently in Justin's room. It's not like he would take her to the lair or anything. Feeling her heart beat increasing tenfold and her hands forming into tight fists at the very thought, she let out a slow unsteady breath.

She needed to see Dean. Now.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N - I have taken so long in this update, and I apologize profusely for it. Free time ensures faster updates, and hopefully, my free time will last for sometime. Thanks for the reviews. Hope this doesn't disappoint. :)**

**I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. My parents say I'm not old enough to play with it :(**

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**Chapter 2**

_Opportunities multiply as they are seized..._

_...  
_

"Um...Alex?"

She ignored him, her glance zeroing on her target.

"Maybe it's time to leave."

She raised her hand slowly, one eye closing so she could aim the dart as accurately as possible.

"You've been playing this game all night."

She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. She missed the last few (okay, all) and she didn't want to go home having not hit the bullseye which she was imagining as Justin's head.

"I think they're going to close up the place."

She snorted, her glance staying put on the little black dot. Everyone knew this bar stayed open until midnight. Dean was an awful liar if she ever met one. Save for Justin. No one can break his honesty streak. Which came back to the fact of...why would he lie about Stacy?

"Alex?"

"You know..this would go much faster if you don't interrupt me." She said it softly, her fingers still poised to fire.

"Uh...yeah. Sorry."

She smiled. Now why couldn't people just listen to her, like Dean? She would ask him to do something, and he would do it. Granted, he wouldn't understand why he was doing it, and had no opinion on the matter, but in her mind, that's part of his charm.

Taking another slow breath, she aimed, and using as much rage she could muster, she threw the dart across the space. It hit the corner of the dartboard slowly, pinned to the surface only for a measly two seconds before it fell to the ground with a tiny clatter. She huffed. Why did she lack so much upper body strength? (Oh yeah, lack of manual labour). "Well, _that_ was a great shot. Shall we go now?"

She turned around to glare at her boyfriend, who had the indecency to get off the stool and shrug on his jacket with lightening fast speed. Something didn't seem right. "Are you supposed to be going somewhere, after?" She raised her eyebrow at him, giving him a look that he could hardly lie to.

"Who? Me? Nah." He shrugged with a sheepish grin. But she raised her eyebrow higher, which is no easy feat, and glared harder. He faltered. "You see, some of the guys thought of playing pool at Ray's tonight. So I thought..."

He looked at her expectantly, and she looked right back, disgusted. "So, what? You're dumping me for guys you see everyday at school?"

He panicked. "What? No! You know I love hanging out with you." He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders, pleading with her. "But you have to admit that we have been hanging out a lot lately. And the guys.." He shrugged, ever the charmer. "...they don't want to admit it, but they miss me. We thought it'll be great to have a guys' night? You know?" He kept looking at her expectantly, as he shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

She let out a light breath. She never was the type to force people to do something they don't want to do. Her skills lie in manipulation. And tonight, she just didn't have the energy. "Fine. Go to your...boys."

He grinned widely. "Thanks, babe. You're the best." He kissed her quickly. "Shall I drop you home?"

"Sure." She said cheerfully with a sarcastic grin on her face.

But as usual it went over his head as he grabbed her jacket from the stool behind him, and helped her shrug it on, his grin firmly in place. She rolled her eyes as he started talking about the bets going around, based on the pool game that night. How she wished she came first in _someone's_ life.

* * *

When she got back home, Dean-less, she was close to tears. The more she thought about it, the more she hated the fact that Dean, with his bad boy image and New York coolness, was far from the perfect vision of a relationship she had envisioned when she played the mysterious, cool woman to get his attention. He never asked her to join him with his friends (Psh. Fine. She hates boy stuff, but still...). He never asked her what she wants to do, she has to tell him. He doesn't have a romantic bone in his body (and no one but her and Harper knows how much of a sucker she is for the random, sweet, thoughtful gesture). And most of all, conversation with him is like talking to herself (which is awesome by it's own right) but he hardly ever tells her what he thinks, and he never opens his mouth unless he knows he will be greeted warmly by her.

"Oh, hey Alex. Take out the trash."

She gritted her teeth in annoyance as her brother passed her on his way to the kitchen. "Oh, hey _Justin_. Didn't see you there for a sec." Why couldn't he be more like Dean and ask permission before he speaks? "So.." She calmly tossed away her jacket and took a seat on the stool next to the kitchen counter, her eyes following him as he went about getting himself a glass of water. "Where's Stacy?"

He continued pouring himself a glass without a twitch. "Who?"

Needless to say, she was taken aback. "Stacy? About yay high. Blue eyes. Blonde. Sunny disposition?"

He finally looked up, his obvious confusion confusing her. "What?"

"Stac-ey?" She said slowly hoping this would make a dent into that thick skull of his. "Little miss tutor you were lip-locked with this evening?"

Finally! She saw that twinge of panic gleam in his eyes, and he dropped the act. "You spied on me?"

She snorted. "And you actually thought that you could pretend that she wasn't here and I would just forget about it?"

He looked at her seriously. "I was actually _hoping_ that I could pretend she wasn't here, and you would forget about it."

She shrugged. "Yeah well. We hardly ever get what we want."

He eyed her skeptically. "What do you want?"

She took his glass and took a delicate sip of water. "What do I want for what?" She asked him, her tone dripping with sweet venom.

He let out a low breath. "I'm guessing that you're just itching to tell mom and dad that I had a girl over..." She shrugged non-commitally, even though the very thought made her stomach flip. "...and I'm guessing that you want something for your...silence."

She shrugged, again. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Justin." Taking another sip of water, she slipped off the stool. He followed her in a panic.

"You won't tell them, right?"

His tone stopped her. "What's the big deal anyway? So you brought a girl home. I'm sure mom and dad will probably just give you a lecture and maybe ground you for a week." It was true. They were way more lenient with him than her. He _was_ after all the perfect son.

He looked at her nervously, the thin layer of sweat on his brow, confusing her. "Just...don't tell them. Okay?"

He looked...sincere. Part of her wanted to promise him that his secret was safe with her. But a bigger, more dominant part of her, wanted to see him suffer. Not to mention this whole Stacy thing was really intriguing her. "I'll think about it." She said cautiously.

Justin blinked, as if he was hoping for much worse. "So..." He eyed her expectantly, waiting for the requirement to keep her silence.

She decided not to play along. "So..."

He sighed. "What do you want?"

She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Alex." He used that big brother tone on her. But years of living with him, made her immune.

"Good night Justin." She said cheerfully, as she turned on her heel and practically skipped up the stairs. She barely saw his fear filled face as she made her way to her room. She wasn't sure yet, but something told her that she was holding a royal flush in this game of poker. There was something he wasn't telling her, and she was going to enjoy uncovering it.

The question was...what's up with this whole Stacy thing? And how can she use this to her advantage?

Her face split into a manipulative smirk. Something tells her that this was going to be fun.


End file.
